


i ain't ever seen someone so beautiful before

by evaneddie



Series: dhylen writes one shots [30]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: F/M, Love at First Sight, cowboy judd, idk they're just so cute i love them, meet cute, mentions of slight blood from a scrape injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22875553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evaneddie/pseuds/evaneddie
Summary: a meet cute for grace and judd, at judd's last rodeo before going to the fire department academy
Relationships: Grace Ryder/Judd Ryder (9-1-1 Lone Star)
Series: dhylen writes one shots [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1433956
Comments: 16
Kudos: 94





	i ain't ever seen someone so beautiful before

**Author's Note:**

> just an idea i came up with that i had to write.  
> i hope you all enjoy!

Today is the last rodeo he will be doing, not just with his father, but ever again in general. While he loves being the Texan cowboy he's grown up as, and grown into, he has things in his life that he wants to do now that he's finished with school for good, things bigger than lassoing bulls. In real country town fashion, his father hadn't been impressed with his only son wanting to escape the family business, not at first. Eventually with time, and an adult discussion Judd initiated, the old man understood and was supportive. Hell, he'd even offered to go over the information inside the manuals with him.

There's only one week left until he starts training with the fire department academy, and boy was he looking forward to it. Able to do the one thing he loves more than rodeo, saving people, being right in the middle of all the action when people are at their worst and need help? Practically a dream come true. 

He'd thought about enrolling in the police academy, but decided against it after some thought. Judd isn't a fighter, he isn't someone that feels the need to enforce the law, that and guns kinda give him the heebie jeebies. But putting out fires? Extracting people from crushed vehicles after an accident? Everything else that comes with being a firefighter? That's what he wants in life, what he wants more than anything.

That's when he saw her. He saw the most beautiful woman he's ever laid his eyes upon, and that's when he knew, she's what he wants more than anything. Not in a possessive way, no. But in a way that the instant he sees her he decides he wants to spend the rest of his life getting to know her, getting to know how her face scrunches up when she laughs, and the colour of her eyes sucking him in like he knows they will if he ever gets to see them up close. She's so damn beautiful, with dark skin and curly dark hair resting on top of her shoulders to match, she dons a soft grin. It doesn't appear that she's entirely disinterested in the events unfolding before her, but she doesn't seem to be enjoying it as much as her friends on the left side of her are.

There's something about her that strikes Judd in a way he's never believed in before. Growing up in a broken home hadn't deterred him from thinking that love isn't real, however he did think that love needed to be something that you grow towards after knowing a certain somebody for some time. Not this. He never thought of this as something possible. Laying his eyes on someone and just immediately falling for them.

Falling for how she sips on her water flask, for how her hair frames her cheeks delicately, with how she talks animatedly to her friends, and how she yawns, clearly bored.

An uproar of yelling comes from the crowd all around him, and he's sure specific words are being shouted out at him but he can't focus on them at this point in time, his mind in a haze.

By the time he pulls his eyes away from the girl in the crowd, it's too late for him to fully turn away from the danger. Doing the best he can in short amount of time he has, he leaps to the left of the incoming beast, only getting slightly sideswiped by him. He's barely grazed, but he knows he needs to get out from the middle of the arena.

Looking to his father, he stands in the dirt and charges towards the gate. 

"You okay, son?" his father asks him the second he's found solace on the other side of the fence. A calloused hand cups his shoulder in concern and a lame attempt of comfort. 

Clarence Ryder is a man of few words, and had never been good at showing emotion, but he tries, and that's all the eighteen year old can ask for.

"Yes sir. Sorry, sir, I got distracted," Judd admits shakily, not entirely sure why he's voicing the words.

As if he just knows, his father replies with a follow up question. "Who is she?"

The wide grin on his face isn't something he's able to force to stay behind closed doors, and he chuckles softly to himself. "I don't know yet."

He wants to know. But he can't just go up to her randomly as she sits in the front row. That's weird. Also, there's no way he's going to wait for her, because that's just creepy, and if his mother taught him anything, it's how to be a gentleman.

Thank the Lord for his mother. She was a lovely woman, still would be if she were around today. Because of her, he's never been afraid to let show his true emotions, and because of her Judd says "fuck toxic masculinity".

A slight sting makes itself apparent on his cheek and he knows he's probably scraped it. Getting it clean is his number one priority, so he doesn't get an infection.

"I'm going to go clean myself up," he mentions to his dad, whom apparently elects himself to go into the ring with the bull Judd just narrowly escaped.

His father shoots him a quick nod before jumping the gate and doing what he's best at.

As Judd passes a group of teenaged girls, he notices that the one from before, the one that caught his eyes is no longer there. An empty space where she once sat was staring back at him as he walked off, shaking his head at himself.

He needs to get a grip. He doesn't even know her name, let alone know who she is, so he should not be having feelings like this, feelings of his stomach twisting in awkward ways. But he is, and he can't help it.

The bathroom is a communal one, meaning he feels a little uncomfortable going in there when two of the stall doors are closed. Only, he doesn't feel uncomfortable for himself, but for others. He's tall for his age, intimidating to most, and some poor lady could experience a heart attack or something of the sort if she sees him when she exits. 

Right on cue, a woman in her fifties or sixties opens the stall door on the left and gives him a genuine smile. He returns it, because of course he does.

"Howdy ma'am," is all he says, grabbing the brim of his hat and tipping it with his head.

No more words are exchanged as she washes her hands and leaves the bathroom.

Judd makes his way over to the sink and turns the faucet on, cupping some liquid in his hands. Closely, he watches himself in the mirror above, barely able to see because of the positioning and his height. The dirt washes off relatively easily from around the scrapes, but there's tiny pieces of gravel stuck in there and he knows he's going to be here longer than originally anticipated.

The sink next to him suddenly has a figure there, washing hands silently, and he looks up to see the girl from earlier. The one who he quietly blames for this, but not really of course. It's his own bloody fault and he knows it.

Wow, she's even prettier up close. Staring is impolite, but when a lady looks as gorgeous as this stranger does, sometimes you can't help it.

"I saw you take a fall out there, cowboy. How ya doing?" 

Honestly, Judd was not expecting her to speak first. He'd been planning on sating something, even if he still doesn't know what it would have been.

He clears his throat, bringing himself back to the present. "Just scrapes and bruises, I'm perfectly dandy."

Especially now, he thinks.

"Well, it looked pretty bad," she responds sympathetically.

Earlier, when he had thought about her eyes and how they would entrap him, he was right. Only, it is way more intense than he thought it would be. How can he be in love? They just met.

"How come I ain't ever seen you around before?" Judd's Texan drawl is strong, reverberating through the overly warm bathroom.

He continues to wipe at his face, watching in the mirror, hoping to remove as much of the muck as he can. He hates taking his eyes off her, but he doesn't really have a choice at the moment.

"My friends dragged me here as a celebration for graduating school. Not usually my thing, but I got a good feeling about this one." She too, has a drawl, only hers is sweeter, not as intense as his, and her smile could light up the whole -

Wait, is she flirting with him?

"I - uh." Wow, Judd. Way to go, buddy. Can't even talk to her like a man. "I'm Judson, but you can call me Judd, everyone does," he settles for.

"Grace," she says. "Can I?" Pointing to his cheek, she gestures that she wants to help.

He gives the tiniest of nods.

Then in a heartbeat she's splashing her hands under the running tap and helping him clean his only open wound. He stills under the touch, his palms sweaty as his pulse quickens. 

"I just graduated too," Judd says, breaking the silence.

It doesn't take long for her to be washing her hands once more and turning the tap off, before reaching over to the paper towel dispenser and pulling out two sheets. One to dry her hands off, and the other to pat his cheek dry ever so gently, her free hand holding his chin between her thumb and forefinger.

"There, all pretty again."

Judd blushes, he legitimately blushes at her words and dips his head to avoid her eyes. 

"What are you doing now that you've done with school?" he queries, wanting to know all he can about this Grace.

"I am thinking of becoming an emergency call centre operator," she exclaims cheerfully, like she's really excited about it, and he's excited for her too. "How 'bout you, cowboy Judd?"

"A firefighter. I start the academy in a week."

They walk out of the bathroom together and into the warm evening sun as it starts to set behind the trees in the distance.

"A week, huh? Well, I guess you're gonna have to ask me on a date before then."

**Author's Note:**

> please go read em's work for another meet cute for the ryders!  
> https://lovelessmotel.tumblr.com/post/190993062592/whats-a-cowboy-like-you-doin-in-a-place-like


End file.
